Celtic’s quest for a thirteenth successive victory in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League proved to be cursed by the ill-fortune associated with that number, as they were unhinged yesterday by a goal that owed as much to Artur Boruc’s error as John Rankin’s audacity.

The Hibernian midfield player conjured up a 45-yard second-half strike that turned the course of this contest, and if Rankin has no “previous” at Easter Road – it was his first goal on home soil – Boruc has a record that is proving criminally negligent.

The Poland goalkeeper gifted Hibernian two goals here last season in a 3-2 defeat and even Rankin admitted that he could not decide whether his dipping 54th-minute attempt was sheer magic, or goalkeeping folly, as it squirmed through Boruc’s grasp.

Colin Nish sealed Hibernian’s victory, their third in four home fixtures against Celtic, with a predatory 68th-minute finish that reopens the title race and cuts Celtic’s lead over Rangers to four points.

Ironically, the architect of Boruc’s downfall was his former colleague, Derek Riordan. The player who left Celtic in August never even got off the bench yesterday, but Riordan has been teaching his Easter Road teammates the intricacies of the dipping shot that he dubbed “the squiggler”. Perhaps, Riordan also had a word with them about Boruc’s capricious nature, but that is already well-known in Leith.

“It’s Derek’s word,” Rankin said. “It is something we have been working on after training but because of the weather last week we had to come to Easter Road to train and we tried a few. It is a strange technique. I’ve never done it in a game and nine times out of ten, I would not hit the ball like it again.

“I saw the Celtic players backing off and had a go. People have said it was Boruc’s mistake and maybe he contributed. It travelled maybe 30 yards before it started to dip. I never dreamt of hitting the ball from there but if you don’t shoot, you don’t score.”

Easter Road went into a frenzy when Rankin’s shot hit the net and the player celebrated with a copy of the cradle-rocking celebration trade-marked by Bebeto, the former Brazil player – not because it was like taking candy from a baby, but to keep a promise to his fiancée, Maria, to honour their girl, Maya. It is noteworthy that she is now six months old and Rankin had been waiting until he scored at home before doing that. “She’s almost walking now,” he said.

The goal was in stark contrast to the fraught encounter that had preceded it, when both sides injected so much industry into the game that there was precious little space, and few, apart from the peerless Steven Fletcher, could break the mould.

However, the defeat was a painful way for Celtic to end a sequence of Premier League victories that stretched back to the Old Firm defeat at home on August 31. No one in the Celtic camp felt ready to pin the blame on Boruc and Gary Caldwell, the most vocal character in the side, insisted later that Strachan’s side have the character not only to pick themselves up but to eclipse this run.

“We are not blaming Artur,” Caldwell said. “It’s a mistake, these things happen. He did not have to say anything to us in the dressing-room. We all take responsibility. Rankin got a free shot. It is not just the goalkeeper’s fault. In a title race, there are highs and lows. This has been a low for us but we just have to come back stronger and go on another run of 12 wins, or even more.”

Strachan was equally keen to endorse his players, rather than undermine them. “I told them they can be proud of themselves for what they have done recently,” the Celtic manager said. He admitted he was surprised at Hibernian’s game plan of playing with two sitting midfield players, in Souleymane Bamba and Steven Thicot, and often leaving Fletcher to forage alone up front.

“Hibernian have played a lot of attacking football in recent season, but this was defensive,” he added.

Thicot did contribute a long-range volley at Boruc in the opening minutes, but, in truth, Celtic dominated the first half but without any real cutting edge to their play. The clearest opportunity came just before the half-hour when Rankin fashioned a 40-yard diagonal pass over the head of Glenn Loovens, the Celtic defender, that released Fletcher. Boruc dashed out of his area but pulled out of the challenge for fear of earning a red card. The Hibernian striker, though, failed to find the empty net from a wide angle.

Scott McDonald and Shaun Maloney both created panic in the Hibernian defence before the interval but Celtic paid the price for failing to finish when Rankin seized the centre stage nine minutes into the second half. Celtic were visibly stunned by the concession of such a goal, though McDonald ought to have equalised but headed over while Andreas Hinkel’s impressive run in the 62nd minute ended with a raking shot narrowly wide of the post.

Hibernian swiftly killed any lingering hopes nursed by the champions when Nish doubled their lead in the 68th minute. Fletcher was at the core of the move, with great skill on the left, before Alan O’Brien beat the off-side trap and skipped beyond Boruc. He cut the ball back from to pick out Fletcher who supplied Nish for the striker to stab in from six yards.

Hibernian (4-4-2): Ma-Kalambay 7 D van Zanten 7 R Jones 7 C Hogg 8 I Murray 7 J Rankin 9 S Bamba 8 S Thicot 7 A O’Brien 7 S Fletcher 9 C Nish 7 Substitutes L Stevenson (for O’Brien, 62min), R Chisholm (for Thicot, 85). Not used A McNeil, D Riordan, F Yantorno, S Pinau, R Campbell.

Celtic (4-4-2): A Boruc 4 A Hinkel 7 S McManus 5 G Loovens 4 M Wilson 5 S Brown 6 P Hartley 6 G Caldwell 7 S Maloney 5 C Sheridan 4 S McDonald 6 Substitutes G Samaras 4 (for Sheridan, 65min), A McGeady (for Hartley, 71) Not used M Brown, S Nakamura, K Mizuno, D O’Dea, P Caddis.

Referee: C Thomson. Attendance: 14,289